So, whether you believe that the church is raptured out of here before or during the tribulation, the events of the end times will begin suddenly. How do you know if you’re ready? We will talk extensively about being on guard, taking heed and keeping alert as we work our way through Mark 13, but here are some others and some of these will be a review from the 1st message of the series:
Endurance/Perseverance/Overcoming
Luke 21:19 By your endurance (amidst hostility for being a Christian) you will gain your lives.
Also, in the book of Revelation, each of the 7 churches are given a promise to receive a specific blessing from Christ if they overcome and then in Rev. 21 after the new heavens and new earth are established God says– 6 …“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
There’s an end coming, whether it’s the end our lives or the end of the world. God has appointed the time of both, so we must not lose heart and instead strive to be faithful until the end.
Patience (bearing up under provocation)
James 5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.
The Almighty Judge is coming who sees all things and will perform perfect justice. If we have a sinful response to being sinned against, then we will be judged along with those who are sinning against us. We can be patient, knowing that no one gets away with anything in God’s universe.
Steadfastness
Right on the heels of discussing the immortality granted through the victory Christ gained over death, Paul says—1 Cor. 15: 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Immortality is coming, so you might as well spend your life abounding in the work of the Lord. You won’t regret it; it won’t be in vain.
Self-control
1 Thes. 5:8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…
We are not to be living it up here in this world, thus living in darkness, but rather living sober lives or lives of self-control. Notice the means of maintaining self-control—we aren’t caught up in what the world has to offer, but instead we wear the breastplate of faith in God and love for God, all the while having the hope of salvation on our minds—the firm conviction of final deliverance from this world and our sinful nature. That is the Christian’s destiny, not wrath.
Holiness (Set apart from the world unto conformity to God’s will)
2 Pet. 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
So, let’s just get after pleasing the Lord and trusting in his Word in all areas of our lives, including eagerly awaiting his glorious appearing, in which he will fulfill all he promised. After that, we will then spend eternity praising the Lamb who was slain for rescuing us from the judgment our sins deserve and securing our spot with him in Heaven. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all. Amen (Rev. 22:21)